CITY ANNOUNCES BQX STREETCAR ROUTES IN LIC, NEW BRIDGE?

Likewise, LIC might get a lot closer for Greenpoint too

CITY officials unveiled potential streetcar routes for the proposed BQX connector in a presentation yesterday. Long Island City options include 21st Street into Jackson Avenue, 11th Street, or Vernon Boulevard. All the plusses and minuses are laid out in the presentation.

Of possibly greater significance, and a key factor in determining which of the routes they choose, are the three bridge options for crossing into Brooklyn. The first one, is to use the existing Pulaski. Yet not only would the use of the bridge itself be logistically difficult given the newly carved out bike lane, but the study notes that the intersection leading up to it on the Queens side would be challenging.

That would leave the remaining two options as more plausible: either a new bridge crossing over at Vernon Boulevard, or a new bridge crossing over at 2nd Street and running east/west for two blocks across 51st Avenue. Both of these would mean massive changes for Hunters Point.

“$25 billion sounds more plausible than $2.5 billion {the City’s estimated cost for the whole project}. In visualizing solely the LIC segment, I can quickly think of a major roadblock: the Pulaski Bridge. A new bike lane was just put in place, which eliminated a car lane. Now you want to remove two more of the remaining four car lanes? I think it’s logistically undoable and thus a streetcar would require a new bridge at a cost …well in excess of $2.5 billion. You get the point, even if we split the difference and the project comes in at $12.5 billion, this is a low-ball number. Conceptually I don’t think it’s even to close to the headline.”

“given my drothers, I’d rather we skip the whole streetcar concept, and just build a bike/pedestrian bridge over the creek along the waterfront. I believe it would get more use, and be more useful, to connect the parks and paths along the river. The build-out would also be a lot less disruptive, and the total cost a lot lower.”

Yeah, that’s where I still stand.

//SOME interesting statistics on subway transit in Queens, compliments of an enlightening article in Metro.us:

-Queens has 81 stations, compared to Brooklyn’s 170 and 148 in Manhattan.

-Queens has only 3.5 stations for every 100,000 people, compared with Brooklyn’s 6.5 stations per 100,000, and 9.2 for Manhattan.

-Queens also ranks last or near last in other comparisons: the number of subway lines, major transfer stations, and subway bridge and tunnel crossings into Manhattan, still most riders’ destination.

-since World War II Queens is the most steadily growing of the four boroughs. Nearly 800,000 more people now live in Queens than in 1950, while Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan have not climbed back to their 1950 populations. And Queens continues to grow. For instance, 104,000 people are expected live in Long Island City by 2020, up from 29,000.

Hmm, not so sure about those population statistics, especially the expected population of LIC, but interesting if true. Nevertheless, all of the above in combination portends massive gridlock 5-10 years out. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Negatives: lots of disruption during the lengthy construction process, more traffic/noise when it’s up and running, a serious change in lifestyle for 51st Ave residents. Positives: a very convenient transit alternative for the immediate hood and greater and quicker connectivity to Greenpoint/Wmsbg including via bike/walking [↩]